Govt effortful to resolve seven-decade long landlessness problems : PM Shah

Kathmandu: Prime Minister Balendra Shah has stated that the government is moving ahead with efforts to resolve the long-standing problem of landless and squatters across the country.

The Head of the Government also said that the efforts were underway to provide land ownership certificates to families who have waited for decades.

Taking to social media on Monday, PM Shah assured that the government would amend the Land Act, Forest Act and other relevant laws where necessary to accelerate the process of addressing landlessness.

According to him, the government was working to remove legal, procedural and structural obstacles and resolve the problems of landless squatters district by district, with the eventual goal of declaring districts free of the squatter problem.

”Citizens who have been receiving assurances for seven decades will now be provided with land ownership certificates,” the PM expressed his commitment, outlining the government’s commitment to move from recurring political promises to concrete actions.

Following the formation of the Land Problems Resolution Commission, PM Shah informed, data on landless households from across the country is being collected and processed through an integrated system. He shared that a total of 1,311,197 applications have so far been entered into the system.

The applications are currently being reviewed and verified, mentioned the PM, adding they will be prioritized for further action.

PM Shah appraised that the government has already distributed land ownership registration certificates to 5,737 families in various districts, including landless settlers without ownership documents, landless Dalits, landless squatters and unorganized settlers.

He assured to expand this process nationwide. He went to inform that works were underway to relocate landless squatters living in areas of public importance or locations considered unsafe to safer settlements.

For families displaced from the Kathmandu Valley, he said, arrangements are being made to manage land in the districts where they have permanent addresses. Furthermore, he shared that the government also begun cross checking the records of people who falsely identified themselves as landless by submitting misleading information, with legal action being initiated where necessary.

PM Shah also recalled that the landlessness issue (providing land ownership certificate to landless squatters) was broached into manifesto of the Nepali Congress, which had emerged as the country’s largest political party following its victory in the 2015 BS’s parliamentary election. Despite changes in political systems and successive governments, the issue has remained a major national problem for more than seven decades, he regretted.

Political parties have repeatedly sought votes by making promises to resolve the plight of landless citizens, Shah noted, expressing his dismay that several successive commissions, committees and other government mechanisms were established and later dissolved without producing the expected outcomes.

According to PM Shah, the State has spent more than Rs 2 billion between 2020 and 2025 on various structures and mechanism created to address land-related problems, but the expenditure did not yield results commensurate with the investment.

The incumbent government helmed by him, however, has chosen a different approach based on expertise, coordination with local governments and clearly defined responsibilities rather than political appointments and the creation of unnecessary administrative layers, he declared.

He also mentioned that efforts were underway to make the land-resolution process more transparent while reducing the financial burden on the State.

RSS